Sore
by LiseBardKimley
Summary: She was just so tired of it all.


She wasn't used to being so sore.

Sure, after some difficult battles, she was a little stiff the next day but this was a whole new level.

Punches from a silver-kryptonite driven Superman had taken their toll on her and Rhea's hits combined with kryptonite hadn't helped either. Fighting back against Rhea through the pain and weakness of kryptonite was one of the hardest things Kara had ever done.

And there was emotional pain too. Mon-El was gone forever. Innocent people had died. Everything was up in the air.

Yes, Cat had helped her but the pain was still there and it was blinding.

It had been weeks now since the invasion. The city was repairing itself. People were trying to repair their lives. And she was still sore.

Kara was swamped with stuff from Snapper and of course with Supergirl duties. And she was glad for the work. It kept her mind off…all that other stuff.

"Supergirl," Kara's head snapped up at J'onn's voice.

"Yes?"

"Go home," He told her. "You look tired."

Kara shook her head. "No, I'm fine."

J'onn raised an eyebrow. "Fine is not defined by getting only a few hours of sleep every night."

Kara frowned. "I thought you couldn't read my mind."

"No," The Martian agreed. "But I can read your face and sense Alex's worry for you."

Kara sighed. "I'm okay."

"Yet still sore," Alex pointed out.

"I'm not sore," Kara argued.

"Crinkle," Alex said simply.

Kara groaned, head falling into her hands. "I'm fine, I promise. I just spaced out for a moment."

"Kara," J'onn said firmly. "Go home and rest. If you keep going like this, you're going to get yourself and others hurt."

She felt like arguing, opened her mouth to start arguing but her feet had a different idea as they dragged her out of the DEO and toward her apartment.

She had just stepped into her apartment when her phone rang. She answered, almost reluctantly.

"Hello?"

"Kara?"

Kara frowned. "Lena?"

"Yes, I'm sorry if I'm disturbing you, I know it's kind of late," (Kara glanced at the clock. It was half past eleven. How'd it get so late?) "But I was wondering how you were doing."

"I'm fine," Kara tried to assure her.

Lena raised an eyebrow on the other line. "Really?"

"Yes!" Kara said. A little too quickly. "I'm great."

There was a pause. "Will you be coming over for lunch tomorrow? I know we've both been busy these past weeks but I was hoping we could catch up."

"Sure, of course." Kara smiled, kicking off her shoes.

"Good. I'll order some food-"

"No kale." Kara said immediately.

Lena laughed. "If you must insist. See you about eleven?"

"Sounds great."

"Thank you for coming today," Lena said, standing up as her favorite reporter entered.

"Oh, no problem," Kara sat down next to the CEO on the couch.

There was a long silence. Kara was looking at the boxes of Chinese take-out on the table, not feeling particularly hungry. Lena was studying her face nervously, trying to gather enough courage to say what she needed to say.

"Kara," Lena took the plunge. "I - thank you for coming today, really. I was a little afraid you wouldn't."

Kara frowned. "Why?"

Lena shifted. "Well, it's not like I was able to find a way for Mon-El to stay on earth."

"Oh."

"I thought that might have been why you've been avoiding me."

"What?" Kara's eyes widened. "No, that's not it. I've just been really busy and I just…it's not your fault you know."

Lena sighed. "But it is. I let that…woman use me."

Kara was a little surprised by the venom in Lena's tone. "Lena, that's the way she was. A lot of people would have had a hard time not being pulled in by her."

Lena made a noise in the back of a throat.

"Besides," Kara continued softly. "If anyone should be feeling bad it's me and Supergirl."

Lena looked up. "What do you mean by that?"

"I was selfish and wanted Mon-El to stay and Rhea got mad and Supergirl's beating herself up for not being faster and smarter and stronger."

"Kara," Lena placed a hand on the reporters clenched fist. "You are allowed to be happy and want happiness, you showed me that. In fact, out of everyone in this messed up world, you deserve happiness the most. And Supergirl may be super but even she can't do everything. And we all know that. The only people blaming Supergirl is herself just like the only person blaming Kara Danvers is Kara Danvers."

Kara cracked a smile. "You know that goes for yourself too, Lena."

Lena groaned good naturedly. "Alright. Fine. I guess you're right. Or I'm right. Anyway, let's eat before this food gets cold."

"Hey, little Danvers!"

Kara spun around and saw Maggie jogging toward her.

"Maggie?"

Maggie grinned, coming up to a stop. "Yeah, who else?"

"Uh, I don't know, I just wasn't expecting to see you."

Maggie scoffed. "A little damage in the city isn't going to keep me away from you, little D."

Kara smiled.

"So, how you holding up?" Maggie asked as the two continued walking. "Wait," She held up a hand. "That was a stupid question. No one's really holding up too well right now."

Kara nodded sadly, glancing around at the buildings where construction workers were still removing debris from the attack.

"You want to come over tonight?"

"What?" Kara was pulled from her thoughts.

Maggie chuckled. "Do you want to come over tonight? Not a Sisters Night, Alex told me about those, but more like a Sisters And That One Other Cop Night."

Maggie mentally completed a complicated victory dance when Kara burst out laughing.

Kara flung an arm around Maggie's shoulder. "I don't think I can miss that."

When Kara entered the DEO a while later, Winn was running around whistling Super Friends. Kara smiled. She'd told everyone about what had happened while under Music Meister's spell but Winn had been the only ones who had wanted to know all the little nitty gritty details including the lyrics to the song she and Barry had sung. Mon-El had been interested in the details too but not quite in the same nerdy way Winn had.

For weeks now, Winn had been humming the catching Superhero tune under his breath and Kara found herself singing softly along with him sometimes.

Kara stumbled into her apartment that night, tired but better than she had been in days. She had a few minutes before she'd head over to Alex's but for now she could just sit alone and think a moment.

Things were still hard. Her apartment reminded her too much of Mon-El (the couch where he'd sat after they came back from CADMUS; the stool he'd sat at when she'd been 'blobbing'; the window he'd pushed her threw when he was being control by that freaky alien) and National City was a constant reminder of her battles with Kal and Rhea.

But she felt better. A little less tired. A little less sore.

A little more hopeful.


End file.
